Want A College Sports Scholarship? Twitter Rules To Live By

Twitter Rules For Athletes Who Want A College Sports Scholarship

If you are trying to get a college sports scholarship you must be extremely careful of what you do in social media. We all know that Twitter is one of your favorite social media tools and you use it frequently. If you are trying to get an athletic scholarship, it can be a really important part of the athletic recruiting process, but you have to know how to use it the right way. You actually have to think about everything you say and do, because your chances for a college athletic scholarship could hang in the balance.

As a high school student-athlete, you may think that nobody is looking at your social media and that you are living in your insulated world of just your friends and just a few other people in town. You also likely have your social media stuff set to “private” so nobody could really see it anyway…so you are safe. I mean….who really cares what you say on your Twitter account anyway, right? WRONG! First of all, just because your Twitter account is private, that does not mean the whole world can’t see it, because they can. If I am friends with one of your friends, maybe I can see it that way. How about if someone retweets one of your tweets? How about if someone takes a screenshot of what you said and posts it online somewhere else? All that privacy is gone and the one thing you didn’t want the world to see is now out there on the global stage for everyone to see. Remember that people are looking and judging you on what you say and post in social media. Those people include teammates, coaches, school administrators, potential future coaches, competitors, parents and a host of other people. Most college coaches say they can learn more about their potential recruits by looking at their Twitter than they can from actually speaking with the prospect, so you have to be careful.

On the darker side of social media there is the sabotage efforts as well. I have spoken to many college coaches who have had various negative or controversial social media posts sent to them by some anonymous source that taint the way they see one of their prospects. I know it stinks, but as a student-athlete there are people out there that want to knock you down a peg for some reason. Whether they are jealous of you or they are competing for the same spot as you, the bottom line is that people may try to sabotage your efforts for some reason. I know that really is awful to hear, but it is more common that you think. One way to ensure that you can’t be undermined is to be careful and not give anyone any ammunition to derail your efforts. So with that in mind, here are a few Twitter tips that I strongly suggest you follow very carefully.

1. Remember that you are building your personal brand. Everything you tweet contributes to that brand , so be sure you are tweeting with that end in mind. Don’t tweet nonsense that you would skip over yourself.

2. Before you tweet something, be sure that you would be comfortable saying it at the dinner table or to your grandmother. If not, simply don’t tweet it.

3. Remember that as an athlete, you represent not only yourself, but your team, coach, school, and administrators.

4. Speaking of all those people, do not ever tweet anything that is said in the locker room. Like the old saying goes, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” and the same goes for the locker room

5. If you have something private to say, pickup the phone and call. If you have to you can even text (although it can be posted online) You should only tweet things that you are comfortable being in the public domain forever!

6. Keep your tweets clean at all time. Sure it may not feel as good to vent without profanity, but you should never vent via tweet anyway. Use this rule and you will be happy. Never use Twitter when you are bitter. It will serve you well in the future.

7. I know you would never violate any rules or break any laws, but in the unlikely event you do, don’t provide the proof on Twitter! There are countless stories of athletic scholarship opportunities lost and careers ended by tweeting incriminating info.

8. If by some chance you have girlfriend, boyfriend or Baby Mama drama, keep it to yourself. Coaches and others do not need to read about how much you hate him or her.

9. Speaking of hate, don’t spew it…ever..on any topic. If you don’t like your school, coach or something else don’t tweet about something you have no intention of changing.

10. Do not tweet about being in “grind mode” or tell the world how hard you are working on the field or in the gym, because if you were really working that hard, you would not have time to tell us about it!

11. Treat every tweet like it is an international press conference, because it is. Your tweet can go viral and travel around the world in a matter of minutes.

12. Never get into a Twitter war with someone who is trying to bait you into saying something stupid or controversial. Just ignore them and even better, block them. You can never win a Twitter war.

13. Never tweet about controversial topics including politics, race, religion or sexual orientation. Nothing good ever comes from those tweets and they tend to go viral quickly. Just don’t do it!

14. Shut down your tweets for the night after a tough loss. They can be difficult and emotionally draining and you might regret what you tweet. You followers will still be there in the morning when you have a clearer perspective on the game.

15. It is not out of the realm of possibilities that one of your Twitter followers may be in the position to hire you one day. Don’t tweet anything that would make them question that decision.

16. Never reply to or retweet things from users with vulgar names or say vulgar things. When you retweet those things it is like you were saying it yourself. Further, do you really want to be associated with @filthyunderwear, @BigAssBetty or @turdburger?

17. Never allow yourself to be photographed with a drink or red cup in your hand. We all know what goes in those red cups and even if you were drinking water, nobody is going to believe you. If you have to be photographed, put your drink down or at least behind your back.

18. If your school or team has social media guidelines and you think they are preventing you from “keeping it real,” then you might want to reevaluate your definition of “keeping it real.”

19. Remember that Twitter is a great tattletale. If you told the coach you missed a team meeting or something else because you were sick or you phone died and then your timeline shows a tweet from your phone, you are busted.

20. Be sure to follow coaches and athletes from schools that you might want to play at to get a better insight into what the experience is really like, but don’t forget that once you do they will be able to se everythig that you do as well.

So those are just some basic Twitter guidelines to live by if you are thinking of trying to get a college sports scholarship. Actually they are great guidelines for anyone using twitter, but if you want to be involved in the athletic recruiting process and have a real chance of playing at the next level, then they are critical.

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